DIVINITY^LORD 


FUNKHOUSER 


tihvaxy  of  Che  Cheolocjical  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  K.   LeFevre 

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THE  DIVINI^l^y 
OUR  LOR 


BY 


/ 


G.  A.  FUNKHOUSER,  D.D. 

Senior  Professor  in  Union  Biblical  Seminary 


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^'flPvwrai^ 


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Dayton,  Ohio 

United   Brethren   Publishing  House 

iqo2 


Copyright  1902,  by  W.  R.  Funk,  Agent 
All  rights  reserved 


PREFACE. 


The  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  most  stupen- 
dous fact.  His  person  is  without  a  parallel.  That 
there  should  be  two  natures,  one  human  and  one 
divine,  in  the  same  person,  passes  our  comprehen- 
sion. 

It  is  a  fact  of  revelation,  and  must  be  received 
by  faith.  When  so  received,  there  have  followed, 
in  all  ages,  nations,  churches,  individuals,  most 
gratifying  results. 

Christ's  deity  "is  to  the  Bible  what  the  soul  is 
to  the  body — its  living  and  all-pervading  prin- 
ciple, without  which  the  Scriptures  are  a  cold, 
lifeless  system  of  history  and  moral  precepts.  It 
seems,  therefore,  like  a  work  of  supererogation  to 
prove  to  Christians  the  divinity  of  their  Redeemer. 
It  is  like  proving  the  sun  to  be  the  source  of  light 
and  heat  to  the  system  of  which  it  is  the  center. 
Still,  as  there  are  men  professing  to  be  Christians 

iii 


///.P 


Preface 

who  still  deny  the  doctrine,  as  there  have  been, 
and  still  are  men  who  make  the  sun  a  mere  satel- 
lite of  the  earth,  it  is  necessary  that  at  least  a 
part  of  the  evidence  by  which  the  great  truth  is 
proved  should  be  presented,  and  should  be  at 
command  to  resist  gainsayers." 

Of  course,  only  a  little  of  the  vast  amount  of 
evidence  for  this  fundamental  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tian belief  can  be  adduced  in  this  volume,  which, 
for  reasons  sufficient,  is  named  "Studies  in  the 
Divinity  of  Our  Lord." 

Those  who  wish  to  read  more,  to  reach  the  same 
destination  by  a  different  route,  are  cited  to  the 
Gospels  and  then  to  the  fascinating  book  by  Doc- 
tor Schaff,  "The  Person  of  Christ,"  the  cogent  ar- 
gument of  Doctor  Young,  "The  Christ  of  His- 
tory," the  scholarly  volume  of  Canon  Liddon, 
"Our  Lord's  Divinity,"  and  the  recent  book,  "The 
Fact  of  Christ,"  by  P.  Carnegie  Simpson. 


Iv 


CONTENTS. 


PAei: 

Preface, iii 

FIRST  STUDY. 
A  Statement,  _.__-_-      9 


SECOND  STUDY. 
Three  Views— The  Right  Oni:,  -       -        -    15 

THIRD  STUDY. 

Jesus'  Claim  to  Divinity,  -       -       -       -    27 

FOURTH  STUDY. 
The  Gospels  Assert  His  Divinity,  -       -    41 

FIFTH  STUDY. 
More  Testimony  by  John,  -       -       -       -    53 

SIXTH  STUDY. 
Paul  Affirms, 61 

V 


Table  of  Contents 

SEVENTH  STUDY. 
Prophets  Foretold, -    71 

EIGHTH  STUDY. 
The  Undivided  Testimony  of  Ages,         -       -    79 

NINTH  STUDY. 
The  Christ  Within,     ------    85 

TENTH  STUDY. 
The  Witness  op  UNBEiiiEVERs,  -       -       -    91 


FIRST  STUDY. 
A  Statement. 


I  would  fain,  O  divine  Son  of  Mary,  feeble  as  I  ow, 
have  said  something  worthy  of  Thee. 

— Justin  Martyr. 


THE  DIVINITY  OF  OUR  LORD, 


FIEST  STUDY. 
A  Statement. 

That  there  was  such  a  person  as  Jesus  Christ 
born  into  the  world  at  Bethlehem  of  Judaea,  reared 
in  the  town  of  Xazareth  in  Galilee,  ministered 
three  years  in  Palestine,  suffered  under  Pontius 
Pilate  at  Jerusalem,  is  as  much  a  fact  of  history 
as  are  the  birth,  life,  work,  and  death  of  Julius 
Caesar,  Xapoleon  Bonaparte,  Abraham  Lincoln,  or 
William  E.  Gladstone. 

History  is  just  as  reliable  in  His  case  as  in 
that  of  any  of  the  others.  In  fact,  more  reliable, 
in  that  for  thousands  of  years  He  was  foretold, 
the  place  of  His  birth.  His  appearance,  the  great- 
ness of  His  mission,  and  intimations  of  the  man- 
ner of  His  death. 

"Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  sacred,  the  most  glori- 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

ous,  the  most  certain  of  all  facts;  arrayed  in  a 
beauty  and  majesty  which  throws  the  'starry  heav- 
ens above  ns  and  the  moral  law  within  us'  into 
obscurity,  and  fills  us  truly  with  ever-growing  rev- 
erence  and  awe.  He  shines  forth  with  the  self- 
evidencing  light  of  the  noonday  sun.  He  is  too 
great,  too  pure,  too  perfect,  to  have  been  invented 
by  any  sinful  and  erring  man.  His  character  and 
claims  are  confirmed  by  the  sublimest  doctrine, 
the  purest  ethics,  the  mightiest  miracles,  the 
grandest  spiritual  kingdom,  and  are  daily  and' 
hourly  exhibited  in  the  virtues  and  graces  of  all 
who  yield  to  the  Tegenerating  and  sanctifying 
power  of  His  spirit  and  example.  The  historical 
Christ  meets  and  satisfies  all  moral  and  religious 
aspirations."^ 

His  coming  and  work  divides  the  world's  history 
into  two  parts — that  before,  and  that  since  His  ad- 
vent. The  first  was  darkness  for  the  most  part, 
or  at  its  best  only  dim  twilight.  The  second  has 
been  light,  increasing  with  each  decade,  more  ex- 
tensive and  more  intensive,  even  as  that  of  the 
natural  sun  rising  in  his  majesty  towards  the 
noonday. 

Xot  only  has  He  divided  history,  but  mankind 

»Schaff. 

10 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

into  two  great  sections — those  who  have  received 
Him  and  those  w^ho  have  not.  To  the  first  class 
He  has  given  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God, 
evidenced  in  their  material,  moral,  and  spiritual 
prosperity,  their  power  and  disposition  to  do  for 
others  as  He  has  done.  "He  that  is  not  with  me 
is  against  me ;  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  me 
scattereth."  l^o  person  who  reads  history  doubts 
for  a  moment  that  there  came  into  this  world  a 
power  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  sufficient  to 
divide  history  and  mankind ;  and  it  is  much  easier 
to  accept  the  fact  of  Jesus  Christ  than  to  account 
for  these  great  results  in  history  and  experience 
apart  from  Him.  One  or  the  other  every  honest 
man  must  do,  or  forfeit  his  own  respect  and  that 
of  his  fellow-men. 


11 


SECOND   STUDY. 
Three  Views — The  Eight  One. 


IS 


Thou  art  a  Sea  without  a  shore; 

Awful,  immense  Thou  art, — 
A  sea  that  can  contract  itself 

Within  my  narrow  heart. 

And  yet  Thou  art  a  Haven,  too, 
Out  on  the  shoreless  sea, 

A  Harhor  that  can  hold  full  well 
Shipwrecked   humanity. 


O  Light!  O  Love!  O  very  God! 

I  dare  no  longer  gaze 

Upon  thy  wondrous  attributes 

And  their  mysterious  ways. 

— Faher. 


14 


SECOND  STUDY. 
Three  Views — The  Eight  One. 

Historically  three  views  of  Him  have  been 
held.  First,  that  He  was  what  He  claimed  to  be, 
the  God-man.  Second,  that  He  was  only  human, 
though  greater  in  degree,  not  in  nature,  than  any- 
other  human  being,  which  is  the  view  held  by 
Socinians  and  for  the  most  part  by  the  Unita- 
rians. Third,  that  He  really  preexisted  somehow 
before  He  came  into  the  world,  though  not  of  the 
same  substance  as  God  the  Father. 

The  first  view  is  the  one  which  has  generally 
been  accepted  as  taught  in  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  has  had  the  undi- 
vided support  of  all  orthodox  Christians  from  the 
days  of  the  apostles  down  to  the  present,  and  has 
always  been  attended  with  most  blessed  results  to 
those  accepting  it,  and  to  all  coming  through  them 
under  the  power  of  this  truth. 

It  is  not  essential  to  the  truth  of  this  doctrine 

15 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

that  we  fully  understand,  or  be  able  to  explain 
how  there  can  be  in  one  person  two  natures,  or 
three  subsistences  in  the  Trinity  and  yet  but  one 
substance  or  essence.  For  man  is  not  able  to  com- 
prehend many  processes  in  nature  around  him, 
and  within  him — how  plants  grow,  how  the  same 
food  becomes  blood,  bone,  muscle,  ligament,  hair, 
and  nails.  ''Omnia  exeunt  in  mysteriuw/'  (all 
things  go  out  in  mystery),  was  a  proverb  of  the 
Latins.  It  holds  good  in  regard  to  everything 
with  which  imperfect  man  has  to  do.  Since  true 
of  the  common  things  of  this  life,  how  much  more 
true  of  the  things  of  the  life  to  come,  and  still 
more  true  in  respect  to  Him  who  is  infinitely 
above  us.  His  modes  of  existence.  His  different 
manifestations.  His  purposes,  and  His  manner  of 
working  out  those  purposes  in,  for,  and  through 
man  imperfect. 

"We  must,  of  necessity,  hold  that  there  is  some- 
thing exceptional,  yet  worthy  of  God,  which  does 
not  admit  of  comparison  at  all,  not  merely  in 
things,  but  which  cannot  even  be  conceived  by 
thought,  or  discerned  by  perception,  so  that  a 
human  mind  should  be  able  to  apprehend  how  the 
unbegotten  God  should  be  made  the  Father  of  the 

16 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

only  begotten  Son.  Because  His  generation  is  as 
eternal  and  everlasting  as  the  brilliancy  which  is 
produced  by  the  sun.  For  it  is  not  by  receiving 
the  breath  of  life  that  He  is  made  Son,  or  by  any 
outward  act,  but  by  His  own  nature."^  "These  are 
notions,"  the  trinity  in  unity,  and  the  unity  in 
trinity,  "which  may  well  puzzle  our  reason  in  con- 
ceiving how  they  agree,  but  should  not  stagger  our 
faith  in  assenting  that  they  are  true,  upon  which 
we  should  meditate,  not  with  hope  to  comprehend, 
but  with  dispositions  to  admire,  veiling  our  faces 
in  the  presence,  and  prostrating  our  reason  at  the 
feet  of  wisdom  so  far  transcending  us." 

It  is  just  at  this  point  that  many  have  gone 
astray  as  to  the  person  and  the  divinity  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Because  they  have  not  been 
able  to  understand  the  Trinity,  the  preexistence  of 
the  Son,  the  two  natures  in  one  person,  they  have 
thrown  out  of  their  creeds  and  practice  these 
truths  of  revelation,  declaring  them  to  be  unin- 
telligible and  self-contradictory,  assuming  that 
only  pernicious  results  can  come  from  assent  to 
and  belief  in  what  is  above  our  natural  reason 
though  it  may  not  be  contrary  to  it. 

» Origen. 
2  17 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Such  were  the  Gnostics  in  the  first  and  second 
centuries,  who  represented  Christ  as  one  of  a 
series  of  emanations  from  God,  thus  reducing  Him 
to  the  rank  of  dependent  beings,  exalted  above 
others  of  the  same  class  in  rank,  but  not  in  nature. 
Also  Monarchians,  Patripassians,  or  Unitarians  as 
they  were  indifferently  called  in  the  third  century, 
"who  admitted  a  modal  Trinity,  acknowledging 
the  true  divinity  of  the  Christ,  but  denying  any 
personal  distinctness  in  the  Godhead";  Arians  in 
the  fourth  century,  who  held  the  preexistence  of 
Christ,  but  denied  His  entire  equality  with  God, 
that  He  was  homoiousion,  that  is,  similar  to  God, 
but  He  was  not  Tiomoousion,  that  is,  the  same  as 
God,  not  very  God  of  very  God. 

Modern  Unitarians  vary  so  much  in  their  be- 
liefs in  respect  to  our  Lord  that  it  is  difficult  to 
represent  them  fairly  in  any  brief  statement.  One 
of  their  number  uses  this  language  in  regard  to  the 
Father:  "The  Almighty  and  Infinite  Being,  to 
whom  universal  nature,  both  material  and  spirit- 
ual, owes  its  existence  and  preservation,  is  strictly 
one,  one  in  a  sense  similar  to  that  in  which  the 
word  is  employed  when  we  speak  of  an  individual 
belonging  to  any  order  or  species  of  intellectual 

18 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

natures, — one  mind,  one  spirit,  one  person,  one 
agent, 

"This  Being,  and  He  alone,  is  self -existent,  nn- 
derived,  independent;  the  only  absolute  possessor 
of  every  perfection ;  the  single  and  original  source 
of  all  existence,  of  all  might,  of  all  wisdom,  of  all 
goodness ;  the  God  and  Father  of  all  intelligences, 
whether  celestial  or  terrestrial,  human  or  divine; 
the  God  and  Father  even  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  though  immeasurably  superior  in  moral  and 
spiritual  grandeur  to  all  other  beings  of  whom  we 
have  any  knowledge,  was  and  is  dependent  on  one 
supreme  and  universal  Parent  for  His  existence. 
His  powers,  and  His  offices, — for  His  authority 
and  qualifications  as  the  Messiah,  as  the  Eepre- 
sentative  or  Vicegerent  of  God,  as  the  Teacher, 
the  Saviour,  the  King,  and  the  Judge  of  men." 

As  to  the  Son,  the  same  author  writes:  "The 
Christ  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  was  no  natural  or 
essential  son  of  God,  no  physical  or  metaphysical 
emanation  from  the  Father,  no  eternally-begotten 
Person  or  Being,  no  second  Person  of  the  God- 
head or  of  a  Triune  Deity,  no  God-man  possessed 
of  properties  destructive  of  each  other;  but  a  man 
the  most  highly  chosen  and  approved  of  God ;  the 

19 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

divinest  of  God's  messengers  and  prophets,  raised 
up  and  appointed  by  God  to  be  the  Redeemer  of 
the  world,  filled  with  all  the  exuberance  of  the 
Father's  spirit,  blessed  by  all  the  tenderness  of 
the  Father's  love;  more  than  a  Son  of  God — the 
Son  of  God,  the  only  begotten  and  best  beloved  of 
God,  because  distinguished  above  all  God's  chil- 
dren, whether  prophets  or  philosophers,  by  a 
deeper  insight  into  God's  designs,  by  a  holier  love 
for  His  character,  by  a  more  devout  and  reverent 
submission  to  His  will." 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  easy  to  see  an  unwill- 
ingness to  accept  the  exalted  truth  as  to  the  per- 
son of  the  Son  as  taught  in  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments and  as  held  by  the  large  body  of  believers 
in  all  the  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  and  it  is 
not  difficult  to  recognize  a  determination  to  subor- 
dinate God's  objective  revelation  to  the  human 
reason. 

Over  against  the  Unitarian  statements  of  their 
own  belief,  it  may  be  well  to  place  the  so-called 'Ath- 
anasian  Creed,  an  amplification  of  those  of  Nice  and 
of  Constantinople,  which  in  substance  is  what  the 
church  has  held  since  381  A.  D.  ^'Whoever  v/ould 
be  saved,  must  first  of  all  take  care  that  he  hold 

20 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

the  catholic  faith,  which,  except  a  man  preserve 
whole  and  inviolate,  he  shall,  without  donbt,  perish 
eternally.  But  this  is  the  catholic  faith,  that  we 
worship  one  God  in  trinity,  and  trinity  in  nnity, 
neither  confounding  the  persons  nor  dividing  the 
substance;  for  the  person  of  the  Father  is  one; 
of  the  Son,  is  another;  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  an- 
other. But  the  divinity  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one,  the  glory  equal, 
the  majesty  equal.  Such  as  is  the  Father,  such 
also  is  the  Son,  and  such  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
Father  is  uncreated,  the  Son  is  uncreated,  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  uncreated.  The  Father  is  infinite, 
the  Son  is  infinite,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  infinite.  The 
Father  is  eternal,  the  Son  is  eternal,  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  eternal.  And  yet  there  are  not  three 
eternal  beings,  but  one  eternal  Being.  So  also 
there  are  not  three  uncreated  beings,  nor  three  in- 
finite beings,  but  one  uncreated  and  one  infinite 
Being.  In  like  manner  the  Father  is  omnipotent, 
the  Son  is  omnipotent,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
omnipotent.  And  yet  there  are  not  three  omnip- 
otent beings,  but  one  omnipotent  Being.  Thus 
the  Father  is  God,  the  Son  God,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  God.     And  yet  there  are  not  three  Gods, 

21 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

but  one  God  only.  The  Father  is  Lord,  the  Son 
Lord,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  Lord.  And  yet  there 
are  not  three  Lords,  but  one  Lord  only.  For  as 
we  are  compelled  by  Christian  truth  to  confess 
each  person  distinctively  to  be  both  God  and  Lord, 
we  are  prohibited  by  the  catholic  religion  from 
saying  that  there  are  three  Gods,  or  three  Lords. 
The  Father  is  made  by  none,  not  created,  or  be- 
gotten. The  Son  is  from  the  Father  alone,  not 
made,  not  created,  but  begotten.  The  Holy  Spirit 
is  not  created  by  the  Father  and  the  Son,  or  be- 
gotten, but  proceeds.  Therefore,  there  is  one 
Father,  not  three  fathers;  one  Son,  not  three 
sons ;  one  Holy  Spirit,  not  three  holy  spirits.  And 
in  this  Trinity  there  is  nothing  prior  or  posterior, 
nothing  greater  or  less,  but  all  three  persons  are 
coetemal,  and  coequal  with  themselves.  So  that 
through  all,  as  was  said  above,  both  unity  in  trin- 
ity, and  trinity  in  unity  is  to  be  adored.  Whoever 
would  be  saved,  let  him  thus  think  concerning  the 
Trinity.'' 

Well  said  the  apostle,  "For  this  cause  it  is  of 
faith,  that  it  might  be  according  to  grace;  to  the 
end  that  the  promise  may  be  sure  to  all  the  seed; 
not  to  that  only  which  is  of  the  law,  but  to  that 

22 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

also  which  is  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  who  is  the 
father  of  us  all." 

Hence,  our  dependence  and  safety  in  these  stud- 
ies, as  in  everything,  are  not  in  what  men  have 
understood  and  said,  but  upon  what  God  has  said. 
To  this  we  now  turn. 


23 


THIED  STUDY. 

Jesus'  Claim  to  Divinity. 


2f! 


He  is  the  central  miracle  of  the  whole  gospel. 

— Philip  Schaff. 

Christ  came  into  the  iDorld  hy  one  miracle,  and  went 
out  hy  another.  — Liddon. 


26 


THIRD  STUDY. 

Jesus'  Claim  to  Divinity. 

At  once  we  must  face  a  most  serious  question — 
either  we  must  receive  His  testimony  or  reject 
Him  altogether.  We  cannot  do  one  or  the  other 
in  part  only.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  invite  per- 
sons to  Himself,  not  to  creeds  or  theories.  He  is 
Himself  the  fact  of  Christianity.  He  asks  the 
questions:  "What  think  ye  of  the  Christ ?  Whose 
son  is  he  ?"    "Who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?" 

Is  there  any  room  for  doubting  His  veracity? 
Is  there  a  word  or  act  in  all  the  more  than  thirty 
years  of  His  existence  on  earth  that  will  allow 
even  a  suspicion  that  He  was  not  to  the  highest 
degree  truthful  and  did  not  act  from  the  most  ex- 
alted motives  ? 

We  may  narrowly  scrutinize  His  childhood  and 
youth  in  the  little  home  at  Nazareth;  His  long 
years  of  quiet  training  and  patient  waiting,  asso- 
ciated with  brothers  and  sisters  in  the  same  toil, 

2T 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

trials,  and  triumphs;  His  emergence  into  the 
larger  sphere  of  His  active  public  ministry;  His 
absolute  sinlessness  through  the  three  years,  no 
one  convincing  Him  of  sin ;  His  perfect  holiness  in 
the  sight  of  God;  the  completeness  and  universal- 
ity of  His  character;  that  all  graces  and  virtues 
were  found  in  Him ;  or  gaze  long  upon  His  unjust 
treatment,  suffering,  and  cruel  death,  yet  never 
be  able  to  detect  a  single  act,  utterance,  tone,  or 
temper  that  reflect  the  least  discredit,  or  make 
Him  in  the  least  degree  less  than  He  claimed  to 
be.  Can  we  doubt  Him?  Let  us  hear  Him  on  a 
few  out  of  many  points  in  favor  of  His  own  di- 
vinity. 

PREEXISTENCE. 

He  laid  definite  and  oft-repeated  claim  to  ex- 
istence before  He  came  into  this  world,  and  this 
to  different  persons  in  widely  different  circum- 
stances and  localities,  persons  friendly  to  Him, 
who,  doubtless,  heard  it  with  astonishment  and, 
perhaps,  with  favor,  and  to  persons  who  heard 
the  claim  with  scoffing  and  hostility.  To  Nico- 
demus,  who  sought  Him  by  night,  a  timid  inquirer, 
during  the  first  passover  in  the  year  27,  with 
whom,  too,  He  had  dealt  so  fairly  in  opening  most 

28 


Tlie  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

momentous  truth,  yet  intimating  this  was  only  the 
beginning  of  the  greater  things  He  had  to  reveal, 
He  said,  continuing  to  lead  his  mind  on  and  out 
to  the  greater  mystery,  "And  no  man  hath  as- 
cended into  heaven,  but  he  that  descended  out  of 
heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man,  which  is  in  heaven." 
Here  He  not  only  asserts  His  preexistence  and 
His  descent  out  of  heaven  to  earth,  but  that  He 
belonged  at  that  very  moment  equally  to  both 
worlds.    He  was  in  Jerusalem,  and  yet  in  heaven. 

Two  years  later,  about  the  time  of  the  third 
passover,  which  He  did  not  attend,  as  He  was 
busy,  patiently  teaching,  healing,  and  feeding  the 
multitudes,  up  north  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  He  said 
to  a  great  crowd,  most  of  whom  were  not  in  spir- 
itual sympathy  with  Him,  for  they  followed  Him 
only  because  they  ate  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled, 
"What  then  if  ye  should  behold  the  Son  of  man 
ascending  where  he  was  before  ?"  This  is  plainly 
advanced  teaching  over  that  to  Nicodemus.  It 
forms  a  climax  in  the  astounding  utterances  of 
that  day,  and  one  reason  that  from  this  time  many 
companied  no  more  with  Him. 

Again,  six  months  later,  and  only  six  months 
before  His  crucifixion,  during  the  feast  of  taber- 

29 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

nacles,  among  many  other  profound  truths  inex- 
plicable to  minds  not  illuminated  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  to  the  crowd  of  Jews  asking  Him,  "Who  art 
thou  ?"  "Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Abra- 
ham?" "Hast  thou  seen  Abraham?"  He  said, 
"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  Before  Abraham 
was,  I  am." 

"In  these  tremendous  words,"  says  Liddon,  "the 
speaker  institutes  a  double  contrast,  in  respect 
both  of  the  duration  and  of  the  mode  of  existence, 
between  Himself  and  the  great  ancestor  of  Israel : 
irplv  'Adpaa/i  yeviadai,  Before  Abraham  to  have  be- 
come, or  was  born.  Abraham,  then,  had  come  into 
existence  at  some  given  point  of  time.  Abraham 
did  not  exist  until  his  parents  gave  him  birth. 
Ey6  et/ii,  I  am.  Here  is  simple  existence,  with  no 
note  of  beginning  or  end.  Our  Lord  says  not. 
Before  Abraham  was  I  was,  but  I  am.  He  claims 
preexistence,  indeed,  but  He  does  not  merely 
claim  preexistence.  He  unveils  a  consciousness  of 
eternal  being.  He  speaks  as  one  on  whom  time 
has  no  effect,  and  for  whom  it  has  no  meaning. 
He  is  the  I  am  of  ancient  Israel;  He  is  unbegin- 
ning,  unending  Being." 

Then,  six  months  later,  in  the  upper  room  in 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Jerusalem,  alone  with  the  apostles  who  were  to 
carry  forward  what  He  had  begun,  whom  He  was 
so  shortly  to  leave,  whom,  too,  He  was  initiating 
into  the  deeper  mysteries  of  His  being  and  of  His 
kingdom,  an  awful  future  casting  its  shadow  upon 
them  all.  He  carried  their  minds  backward  to 
His  preexistence  with  the  Father,  and  also  for- 
ward to  the  reestablishment  of  that  original  re- 
lation, in  these  words,  "I  came  out  from  the  Fa- 
ther, and  am  come  into  the  world:  again,  I  leave 
the  world,  and  go  unto  the  Father."  They  were 
convinced  as  never  before,  for  they  said,  "By  this 
we  believe  that  thou  camest  forth  from  God.'^ 

Still  later,  well  on  toward  midnight,  in  that 
same  upper  room,  Jesus  leaving  His  disciples  as 
it  were  in  the  outer  court,  and  pressing  His  way 
into  the  holy  of  holies  and  offering  to  His  Father 
that  high-priestly  prayer  for  Himself,  for  His  dis- 
ciples, and  for  those  who  should  believe  upoh 
Him,  He  breathed  out  the  most  wonderful  re- 
quest ever  recorded,  "And  now,  0  Father,  glorify 
thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which 
I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was."  In  this 
He  not  only  claims  preexistence,  but  also  His  nat- 
ural and  inalienable  right  to  the  manifested  ex- 

31 


'The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

cellence  accorded  Him,  before  He  emptied  Him- 
self and  took  the  form  of  a  servant.  No  prophet, 
priest,  or  king  had  ever  gone  so  far  in  petition. 
Others  had  longed,  hungered,  cried  out  for  the  liv- 
ing God  in  language  of  great  intensity,  but  never 
had  such  utterance  come  from  human  lips.  What 
does  it  mean,  if  not  that  He  was  conscious  of  His 
preexistence,  and  that  now  He  was  about  to  be 
reinstated  to  His  former  unforfeited  dignity  and 
glory?  With  this  claim  of  his  directly  asserted 
with  increasing  emphasis  through  all  the  years  of 
His  active  ministry,  agree  all  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament.  There  are  so  many  incidental 
assertions  of  the  same  truth.  It  pervades  the 
whole  Book  of  Eevelation,  which  would  be  mean- 
ingless without  it. 

HIS   CLAIM   TO    KNOW   GOD. 

Early  in  the  second  year  of  His  ministry,  after 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  after  Jolm  the 
Baptist  in  prison  had  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to 
Him,  Jesus,  having  pronounced  woes  upon  those 
who  had  great  light  and  yet  did  not  use  it,  (re- 
sponsibility is  in  proportion  to  light,)  with  grati- 
tude He  acquiesced  in  the  will  of  His  Father,  and 

32 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

said,  "All  things  have  been  delivered  unto  me  of 
my  Father:  and  no  one  knoweth  who  the  Son  is, 
save  the  Father;  and  who  the  Father  is,  save  the 
Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  re- 
veal him." 

But  in  John  8 :  55,  about  six  months  before  His 
death.  He  advances  and  claims  exclusive,  preemi- 
nent, and  absolute  knowledge  of  God.  "And  ye 
have  not  known  him:  but  I  know  him;  and  if  I 
should  say,  I  know  him  not,  I  shall  be  like  unto 
you,  a  liar :  but  I  know  him,  and  keep  his  word."' 
Again,  John  10 :  15,  "Even  as  the  Father  know- 
eth me,  and  I  know  the  Father." 

Did  ever  philosopher  or  prophet  or  apostle  or 
saint  make  claim  to  know  the  infinite  God?  To 
know  His  works,  any  one  of  them,  or  any  one  of 
His  attributes  would  be  a  claim  an  archangel 
would  not  dare  to  make.  But  to  know  God  Him- 
self, and  to  know  Him  to  the  degree  that  God 
Himself  knows,  is  a  claim  none  but  an  infinite 
one  would  dare  to  make. 

HIS    CLAIM   TO   BE   GOD. 

This  is  much  more  than  preexistence  and  know- 
ing God,  the  other  assertions  He  had  made. 

3  33 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

1.  That  He  is  one  with  the  Father.  "I  and 
the  Father  are  one"  (John  10:30).  And  the 
Jews  fully  understood  the  extent  of  His  claim  in 
these  words,  for  immediately  they  took  up  stones 
again  to  stone  Him.  Did  He  yield  the  ground? 
Eather  He  advanced  upon  His  malicious  enemies 
with  the  challenge,  that  if  He  did  not  the  works 
of  God  they  were  at  liberty  not  to  believe  Him, 
but  if  He  did  the  works  of  God,  then  they  ought 
to  believe  the  works  though  they  did  inconsist- 
ently reject  the  worker,  "that  ye  may  know  and 
understand  that  the  Father  is  in  me,  and  I  in  the 
Father."  "He  that  beholdeth  me  beholdeth  him 
that  sent  me."  "The  Father  that  dwelleth  in  me, 
he  doeth  the  works." 

2.  That  He  is  entitled  to  equal  honor  with  tJie 
Father.  At  the  time  of  the  second  passover,  John 
5 : 1,  great  indignation  was  manifested  toward 
Him  by  the  Jews  because  He  had  healed  upon  the 
Sabbath  day  a  man  with  an  infirmity  of  thirty- 
eight  years,  and  they  determined  to  kill  him.  The 
whole  chapter  is  a  defense  of  His  right  to  do  as 
He  had  done  because  He  was  Himself  God.  "That 
all  may  honour  the  Son,  even  as  thy  honour  the 


34 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Father.    He  that  honoureth  not  the  Son  honour- 
eth  not  the  Father  which  sent  him." 

3.  That  He  is  equal  with  the  Father  in  send- 
ing the  Holy  Spirit.  Compare  John  14: 16  with 
John  15 :  26.  "I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he 
shall  give  you  another  Comforter."  "But  when 
the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  nnto  you 
from  the  Father." 

4.  That  as  God  He  is  the  owner  of  all  things. 
"All  things  whatsoever  the  Father  hath  are  mine" 
(John  16: 15).  That  he  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath 
equally  with  the  Father.  (John  5: 17;  Mark  2: 
28.)  Hence  He  had  the  right  to  do  works  of 
mercy  and  to  change  Jewish  observances. 

5.  That  He  had  the  power  to  forgive  sins, 
which  was  acknowledged  hy  all  to  he  the  preroga- 
tive of  God  alone.  Mark  2:7,  10 :  "Who  can 
forgive  sins  but  one,  even  God?"  "But  that  ye 
may  know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  power  on 
earth  to  forgive  sins,"  and  the  man  walked  away 
healed  in  body  and  soul.  To  the  woman  who,  out 
of  great  love,  washed  His  feet  as  He  sat  in  Simon^s 
house  and  wiped  them  with  her  hair.  He  gra- 
ciously announced  (Luke  7:48),  "Thy  sins  [they 
were  many]  are  forgiven." 

35 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

6.  TJiai  Be  was  equally  with  God  entitled  to 
their  faith  in  the  most  crucial  hours  of  their  ex- 
perience. John  14 : 1 :  "Ye  believe  in  God,  be- 
lieve also  in  me/'  What  an  impostor  He  must 
have  been,  if,  knowing  what  was  coming  upon 
His  stricken  followers  within  a  few  short  hours, 
and  for  days  and  years  to  follow.  He  asked  them 
to  do  what  He  knew  had  no  divine  reality  in  it — 
to  believe  in  Him  as  they  believed  in  God !  What 
cruel  mockery!  Not  even  His  worst  enemy  can 
believe  Him  guilty  of  such  base  imposition.  Far, 
far  easier  is  it  to  receive  Him  as  divine,  as  He 
claimed  to  be,  than  to  believe  He  told  and  acted 
a  lie  at  such  a  time  as  this. 

The  morning  following  the  above  interview  with 
friends,  prolonged  far  into  the  night.  He  was  in 
the  power  of  murderous  enemies  who  disputed  His 
claim,  progressively  asserted  through  the  past 
three  years.  Only  one  of  His  former  close  friends 
now  stood  near  Him.  All  had  forsaken  and  fled. 
One,  however,  had  recovered  himself  and  was  pres- 
ent at  this  preliminary  trial. 

Will  He  now  maintain  His  claim  to  be  divine  in 
such  circumstances?  Yes,  the  record  (Matt.  26: 
63-67)  says.  He  was  not  only  true  to  his  claim, 

36 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

to  Himself,  to  His  Father,  and  to  all  mankind, 
as  previously  set  forth,  but  He  advances  the  new 
and  larger  truth  implied  in  that  claim,  "Hence- 
forth ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of 
heaven."  His  examiners,  Caiaphas  and  his  com- 
mittee of  the  Sanhedrin,  called  before  daylight  to 
look  into  His  case  and  formulate  a  measure  to  be 
adopted  by  the  whole  body  to  be  regularly  called 
after  daylight,  fully  understanding  the  extent  of 
His  claim  to  be  God,  declared  the  case  made 
against  Him  by  rising  and  rending  their  garments, 
by  spitting  in  His  face,  by  buffeting,  smiting, 
mocking  Him,  and  the  events  of  that  ever-mem- 
orable Friday  morning,  enforced  by  the  testimony 
of  His  bitterest  enemies  and  by  the  resurrection 
morning  and  all  subsequent  events,  proved  the 
validity  of  His  claim  that  He  was  divine.  He  was 
and  is  BeavOpunog,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Son  of  man. 
"Seventy-seven  times  He  is  called  Lord;  and 
one  with  the  Father,  seventeen ;  ten  times  are  the 
same  things  spoken  of  Him  as  of  God;  and  in 
fifty-two  is  He  presented  as  an  object  of  worship. 
In  fifty-eight  places  He  is  spoken  of  as  a  Sav- 
iour, in  fourteen  as  Redeemer,  in  fifteen  as  pos- 

37 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

sessing  eternal  life,  in  fifteen  as  Giver  of  eternal 
life,  in  seventeen  as  Judge  of  the  world,  in  twenty 
as  the  Bestower  of  rewards,  and  in  twenty-four  as 
Executor  of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked/'^ 

If  Jesus  was  not  what  He  claimed  to  be,  why 
in  all  the  ages  have  there  not  been  others  like 
Him? 

» Townsend. 


38 


FOURTH  STUDY. 
The  Gospels  Assert  His  Divinity. 


All  I  think,  all  I  hope,  all  I  write,  all  I  live  for,  is 
tased  upon  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  central  joy 
of  my  poor  wayward  life. 

— William  E.   Gladstone. 


40 


FOURTH  STUDY. 

The  Gospels  Assert  His  Divinity. 

In  the  four  Gospels  we  have  two  views  of  our 
Lord.  The  first  three,  called  the  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels, present  Him  as  the  Human-Divine  Being, 
the  last  as  the  Divine-Human. 

In  the  synoptists  we  see  Him  horn,  growing  to 
youth  and  manhood,  in  His  baptism,  ministry  of 
healing,  teaching,  working  miracles,  rejected,  be- 
trayed, suffering,  dying,  buried,  rising,  much  as 
we  might  read  the  story  of  any  other  one,  little  be- 
ing said  of  His  divinity,  though  it  is  taken  for 
granted  in  all  the  record.  But  in  John  we  are  at 
once  taken  into  the  realm  of  the  divine,  and  the 
divine  side  of  His  great  person  is  constantly  prom- 
inent, the  human  not  denied  but  taken  for  granted. 

synoptists. 

The  synoptists  are  not  without  explicit  testi- 
mony as  to  His  divinity.    The  whole  message  of 

41 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

the  angel  to  Mary,  Luke  1 :  28-35,  preannouneing 
His  birth,  is  permeated  with  the  idea  of  His  di- 
vinity, ascribing  to  Him  absolute  greatness,  exal- 
tation, kingship,  eternity,  and  holiness.  "Where- 
fore also  that  which  is  to  be  born  shall  be  called 
holy,  the  Son  of  God." 

Then  at  the  age  of  thirty,  probably  in  January, 
A.  D.  27,  when  He  was  baptized  in  the  river  Jor- 
dan, all  three  synoptists  record  that  the  Father 
gave  testimony  by  sending  the  Spirit  in  a  bodily 
form  upon  Him  and  by  "a  voice  out  of  the  heav- 
ens, saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased." 

Then  all  through  His  ministry  of  more  than 
three  years,  each  of  these  writers  looked  at  Him 
from  his  particular  viewpoint,  and  made  record 
for  different  classes  of  readers.  Matthew  for  the 
Jew  wrote  on  the  subject,  "Jesus  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Messiah  promised  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment." He  saw  Him  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King.  In  each  office  He  was  more  than  human. 
He  was  divine.  What  teacher  ever  laid  down  such 
elements  of  character  as  Jesus  did  in  the  first 
seven  Beatitudes,  and  who  had  found  such  depths 
of  spirituality  in  the  law  as  He  gave  in  Matthew 

42 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

5 :  17-48,  and  such  ideas  of  the  kingdom  as  He 
fascinatingly  portrayed  in  chapter  13,  and  snch 
prophetic  unfolding  of  the  future  as  He  gave  in 
chapters  2-1  and  25  ? 

There  is  no  more  convincing  argument  for  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  than  can  be  read  in  the  sim- 
ple yet  natural  divisions  of  each  Gospel.  Matthew 
gives  (1)  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  1 :  4-11;  (2) 
the  pubHc  proclamation  of  the  Messiah — the 
prophet  idea  prominent,  4:12 — 16:12;  (3)  the 
public  claim  of  the  Messiah,  the  King,  16 :  13 — 
23 :  34;  (4)  the  sacrifice  of  the  Messiah,  the  Priest, 
24 — 27;  conclusion,  the  triumph  of  the  Messiah 
as  prophet,  king,  and  priest,  28. 

Mark  wrote  his  Gospel  for  the  Eomans,  who 
were  the  conquerors  of  the  world  and  delighted  in 
power,  and  the  subject  of  his  Gospel  is  "Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  in  His  conquering  power,'' 
and  gives  deeds,  rather  than  discourses  as 
Matthew:  (1)  The  advent  of  the  Conqueror,  1: 
1-13;  (2)  His  conquests  in  eastern  Galilee,  1: 14 
— 7:23;  (3)  His  conquests  in  upper  Galilee, 
7:24—9;  (4)  His  conquests  in  Perea,  10:1-45; 
(5)  His  conquests  in  Judsea,  10:  46 — 15;  (6)  His 


43 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

conquests  over  Jews,  Romans,  death,  the  grave, 
and  the  world,  16. 

Luke  wrote  his  Gospel  for  the  Greeks,  who  were 
at  that  time  in  all  lands,  and  hence  the  representa- 
tives of  mankind,  and  the  subject  he  set  forth  is 
"Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  all 
mankind":  (1)  His  identity  with  all  mankind 
in  His  birth,  1 — 3;  (2)  His  work  for  all  Jewish 
mankind  in  Galilee,  4 — 9:50;  (3)  His  work  for 
all  Gentile  mankind  in  Perea,  9:  51— 18:  30;  (4), 
His  journey,  sacrifice,  and  triumph  for  all  man- 
kind, 18 :  31—24. 

The  most  convincing  treatise  on  the  divinity  of 
our  Lord  is  the  threefold  story  of  the  human- 
divine  One  as  read  according  to  the  analyses  given, 
or  read  just  as  recorded  by  the  authors.  He  is 
supernatural  in  his  teaching,  in  his  control  of  nat- 
ural elements,  of  animal  nature,  of  demoniacal 
spirits,  of  disease,  and  of  death  itself.  He  is  om- 
niscient, omnipresent,  omnipotent.  "At  the  mouth 
of  two  witnesses  or  three  every  word  may  be  es- 
tablished." 

THE    FOURTH    GOSPEL. 

Of  the  four  evangelists,  it  is  chiefly  to  John 
that  we  turn  for  direct  and  positive  testimony  as 

44 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

to  our  Lord's  divinity.  Had  we  no  more  evidence 
than  what  John  gives  in  the  prologue  to  his  Gos- 
pel, first  eighteen  verses,  we  need  not  be  in  doubt 
upon  this  fundamental  truth.  "It  is  the  profound- 
est  page  in  the  New  Testament.''^ 

In  the  opening  sentence  he  plunges  us  in  be- 
yond the  depth  of  our  reason.  How  different  from 
the  beginning  of  the  other  Gospels,  where  we  were 
led  down  through  His  humanity  and  on  up  to  His 
divinity !  In  this  it  is  divinity  first.  "In  the  be- 
ginning, before  God  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  the  Word  already  was.  He  did  not  come 
into  being,  but  was.  Before  this  Word,  who  is 
announced  in  the  Gospel,  appeared  in  time,  He 
was  in  the  beginning;  before  He  became  the  life 
and  the  light  of  men,  He  was  with  God;  before 
He  became  flesh.  He  was  God;  before  He  dwelt 
with  us.  He  had  been  from  all  eternity  with  God." 

Bengel  says,  "Verses  one  and  two  place  Him  be- 
fore the  creation  of  the  world;  verse  three,  at  the 
creation  of  the  world;  verse  four,  at  the  time  of 
the  fall ;  and  verse  five,  after  the  time  of  the  fall." 

The  whole  prologue  as  it  bears  directly  upon 
His  divinity  as  manifested  may  be  analyzed  thus : 

*Dr.  McLaren. 

45 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

I.  His  absolute  eternal  preexistence  as  the 
Word,  verses  1-5. 

1.  His  existence  beyond  time  (1). 

2.  His  personal  existence  in  active  communion 
with  God  (1). 

3.  His  nature — God  in  essence  (1). 

4.  In  personal  communion  with  God  (2). 

5.  The  agent  in  creation  (3). 

6.  The  self-contained  cause  of  all  things  (4). 

7.  His  conflict,  as  light  with  darkness  (5). 
II.     His  historic  manifestation  as  the  Word, 

verses  6-18. 

1.  By  prophecy  of  John :  His  personality  (6) ; 
the  end  of  His  mission  (7) ;  His  nature  (8). 

2.  As  light:  by  special  revelation  (9);  by 
personal  immanence  (10). 

3.  By  His  personal  coming  to  His  chosen  peo- 
ple (11-13)  :  natural  unbelief  encountered  (11) ; 
personal  faith  of  some  (12,  13). 

4.  By  His  incarnation  (14-17)  :  personal  ap- 
pearing (14)  ;  John's  witness  (15)  ;  experience  of 
believers  (16) ;  His  relation  to  law  (17). 

5.  By  His  declaring  the  Father  (18). 

Of  the  twenty-two  names  applied  by  the  writer 
in  this  chapter  to  Christ,  fifteen  directly  imply  His 

46 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

divinity.  John  the  Baptist  bare  record  that  this 
is  the  Son  of  God,  and  pointed  out  "the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 
To  the  spiritually-minded  Nathanael,  confessing, 
"Thou  art  the  Son  of  God;  thou  art  the  King  of 
Israel,''  He  opened  larger  truths  along  the  same 
line. 

We  might  be  satisfied  with  John's  testimony  in 
this  chapter  alone,  but  every  chapter  adds  new 
evidence.  As  Creator  He  makes  water  into  the 
best  of  wine;  foretells  His  own  resurrection  three 
years  in  advance;  leads  the  inquiring  Jewish 
teacher  into  momentous  truth;  discovers  to  the 
outcast  Samaritan  woman  His  Messiahship  before 
He  tells  eminent  men  of  His  own  nation  or  even 
His  personal  friends;  makes  Himself  equal  with 
God  in  the  work  He  does  and  in  the  honor  He 
claims,  in  the  life  He  has,  and  in  that  Moses  wrote 
of  Him;  feeds  the  thousands  from  a  few  loaves 
and  fishes;  calls  Himself  the  Bread  of  Life  and 
the  Resurrection ;  receives  without  protest  the  con- 
fession of  Peter  that  He  is  the  Holy  One  of  God ; 
by  His  marvelous  teaching  on  the  last  great  day 
of  the  feast  He  divides  His  hearers,  many  being 
convinced  that  He  is  the  Christ;  places  Himself 

47 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

before  Abraham  in  His  eternal  preexistence ; 
opens  the  eyes  of  a  man  born  blind;  is  the  Shep- 
herd of  His  sheep  whom  He  knows,  calls,  gathers, 
guides,  feeds,  protects,  preserves,  dies  for,  and 
gives  eternal  life;  raises  Lazarus,  His  friend,  and 
affirms  Himself  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  ac- 
cepts anointing  and  public  homage  as  King,  not 
only  without  protest,  but  even  approves  and  com- 
mends the  acts. 

These  first  twelve  chapters  of  John  were  His 
self -revelation  to  the  world.  The  remaining  part 
of  the  book  is  His  self-revelation  to  the  inner  cir- 
cle of  His  own,  and  is  weighty  with  evidence  of 
His  divinity. 

A  recent  writer  says,  "The  critical  penetrative- 
ness  of  that  writer  is  too  little  recognized.  He 
overleapt  centuries  of  controversy.  He  saw  at  the 
first  glance  what  all  history  has  abundantly 
demonstrated,  that  all  intermediate  compromises, 
such  as  the  Arian,  were  neither  historically  nor 
logically  tenable,  and  that  therefore  the  issue  was 
clean  and  clear  between  mere  humanity  and  very 
deity.  With  that  direct  issue  before  him,  he  wrote, 
not  so  much  the  best  or  the  highest,  but  the  only 
description  of  Jesus  that  he  could  write.     As  a 

48 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Christian,  he  could  not  describe  Jesus  as  a  mere 
man ;  nor  can  we.  As  a  thinker,  he  could  not  de- 
scribe Him  as  an  intermediate  divinity;  nor  can 
we.  If,  then,  he  was  to  write  at  all,  he  could  write 
but  one  thing,  and  if  we  are  to  say  at  all  what 
Christ  is,  we  can  say  but  that  one  thing,  too. 
It  is,  I  repeat,  saved  from  being  quite  incredible 
only  by  being  quite  inevitable.'^^ 

*P.  Carnegie  Simpson. 


49 


FIFTH  STUDY. 
More  Testimony  by  John. 


51 


My  Lord  and  my  Ood. 

— Thomas. 


52 


FIFTH  STUDY. 
More  Testimony  by  John. 

The  first  Epistle  of  John  was  written  from 
Ephesus  to  Christians  in  Asia  Minor,  among 
whom  many  insidious  and  dangerous  errors  as  to 
our  Lord's  divinity  had  arisen.  By  some,  matter 
was  held  to  be  in  itself  essentially  evil,  and,  there- 
fore, Jesus  could  not  have  taken  to  Himself  a  real 
body,  but  He  only  seemed  to  have  a  body.  Again, 
that  He  was  not  eternally  begotten,  but  was  only 
one  of  a  great  number  of  emanations  from  God, 
the  highest,  to  be  sure,  yet  not  divine.  Others  had 
degraded  Him  by  exalting  the  worship  of  angels, 
and  not  holding  Him  as  the  Head  over  all  things 
to  His  church. 

John  writes  with  a  view  to  putting  Him  in  His 
rightful,  exalted  place  as  the  divine  Sovereign 
and  Saviour,  through  whom  alone  man  can  ap- 
proach God  and  be  saved.  Although  sixty  or  sev- 
enty years  had  passed  since  the  cloud  received 

53 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Him  out  of  the  sight  of  the  astonished,  upward- 
gazing  apostles  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Jesus  was 
still  a  living,  real  person  to  John,  as  real,  'airjOivSg, 
a  favorite  word,  as  when  he  leaned  upon  His  bosom 
at  the  table  in  the  upper  room,  and  he  wanted  his 
readers  to  hold  Him  as  real,  though  not  present 
to  their  bodily  vision.  "Whom  not  having  seen 
ye  love ;  on  whom,  though  now  ye  see  him  not,  yet 
believing,  ye  rejoice  greatly  with  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory." 

Now  again,  as  in  the  prologue  to  his  Gospel, 
had  he  given  us  no  more  than  the  introductory 
verses,  the  first  four  of  this  letter,  we  should  be 
obliged  to  consider  the  author's  purpose  estab- 
lished. "That  which  was  from  the  beginning, 
that  which  we  have  heard,  that  which  we  have 
seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which  we  beheld,  and 
our  hands  handled,  concerneth  the  Word  of  life 
(and  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen, 
and  bear  witness,  and  declare  unto  you  the  life, 
the  eternal  life,  which  was  with  the  Father,  and 
was  manifested  unto  us) ;  that  which  we  have  seen 
and  heard  declare  we  unto  you  also,  that  ye  also 
may  have  fellowship  with  us :  yea,  and  our  fellow- 
ship is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus 

54 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Christ:  and  these  things  we  write,  that  onr  joy 
may  be  fulfilled."  Even  the  first  word,  repeated 
three  times,  6 ,  "what,  that  which,"  being  neuter, 
refers  to  more  than  the  historic  Christ,  teaching 
His  preexistence,  hence  His  divinity.  Then  he 
proceeds  to  bring  ont  the  reality  of  His  humanity. 

Or  had  we  no  more  than  the  last  four  verses 
of  this  letter,  we  should  have  the  reality  and  di- 
vinity of  our  Lord  sufficiently  proved.  "We  know 
that  whosoever  is  begotten  of  God  sinneth  not; 
but  he  that  was  begotten  of  God  keepeth  him,  and 
the  evil  one  toucheth  him  not.  We  know  that 
we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  the 
evil  one.  And  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God  is 
come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding,  that 
we  know  him  that  is  true,  and  we  are  in  him  that 
is  true,  even  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the 
true  God,  and  eternal  life.  My  little  children, 
keep  yourselves  from  idols." 

In  the  author's  love  for  trinal  arrangement  of 
ideas,  we  have  in  his  "we  know,"  "we  know,''  "wg 
know,"  that  Christians  are  begotten  of  God,  be- 
long to  God,  that  the  Son  of  God  "is  come,"  pres- 
ent tense,  hence  here  now,  not  came  or  has  come, 
but  "is  come,"  an  ever-present,  real  person.    Then 

55 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

read  real  in  the  place  of  true,  as  the  original  un- 
deniably warrants  and  you  have,  "An  understand- 
ing, that  we  may  know  the  real  one,  and  we  are  in 
the  real  one,  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  one 
is  the  real  God  and  life  ageless."  Is  it  any  wonder 
he  closes  his  letter  with  the  affectionate  entreaty, 
"My  little  children,  guard  yourselves  from  idols'^  ? 

ISTot  only  the  first  and  last  verses  prove  the  di- 
vine reality  of  our  Lord,  but  there  are  strong  as- 
sertions throughout  this  letter.  "Whosoever  shall 
confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God  abid- 
eth  in  him,  and  he  in  God."  "Whosoever  denieth 
the  Son,  the  same  hath  not  the  Father:  he  that 
confesseth  the  Son  hath  the  Father  also."  Faith 
in  the  Son  conquers  the  world,  gives  the  witness 
within,  and  endows  with  the  ageless  life. 

The  subject  of  John's  testimony  in  Eevelation 
is,  "The  church's  struggle  and  victory."  Eead  it 
with  the  victory  side  outmost,  for  it  is  the  key- 
note, and  Christ  is  the  organizer  and  leader  in 
that  victory.  "It  is  one  continued  hymn  of  praise 
to  Christ,  setting  forth  the  glory  of  His  person 
and  the  triumph  of  His  kingdom;  representing 
Him  as  the  ground  of  confidence  to  His  people, 
and  the  object  of  worship  to  all  the  inhabitants 

56 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

of  heaven.  He  is  declared  to  be  the  ruler  of  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  He  has  made  us  kings  and 
priests  unto  God.  He  is  the  First  and  the  Last, 
language  never  used  but  of  God,  and  true  of  Him 
alone.  In  the  epistles  to  the  churches,  Christ  as- 
sumes the  titles  and  prerogatives  of  God." 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  in  this  prophetic  book 
the  progress  of  the  victory  of  which  He  is  Head 
and  Promoter.  First  we  are  made  acquainted 
with  Him  in  person,  transcendingly  great;  then 
He  commends,  rebukes,  threatens,  and  rewards  the 
seven  churches;  then  is  set  before  us  the  orderly 
arrangement  of  heaven;  then  the  Lamb  prevailing 
and  worshiped  by  living  creatures,  the  four  and 
twenty  elders,  the  angels  joining,  and  every 
created  thing  in  the  universe  uniting  to  swell  the 
chorus  with  ascriptions  of  praise  ^'unto  him  that 
sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,  be  the 
blessing,  and  the  honour,  and  tlje  glory,  and  the 
dominion  for  ever  and  ever";  then  on  in  chapter 
seven  the  innumerable  company  arrayed  in  white 
robes  and  with  palms  in  their  hands  cry  with  a 
great  voice,  ^^Salvation  unto  our  God  which  sit- 
teth on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb,"  with  the 
antiphonal  answer  from  angels,  elders,  and  living 

57 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

creatures,  all  on  their  faces  worshiping  and  say- 
ing, "Amen :  blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and 
thanksgiving,  and  honour,  and  power,  and  might, 
be  unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen." 

Then  the  last  chapters  give  forth  one  final  peal 
of  victory  of  the  redeemed  under  the  triumphant 
leadership  of  Him  who  answers,  "Behold,  I  come 
quickly."    To  John  He  was  divine. 


58 


SIXTH  STUDY, 
Paul  Affirms. 


It  will  J)e  commonly  found  that  half  the  merit  of  an 
argument  lies  in  the  genuineness  of  its  aim  or  olject. 

— Horace  Bushnell. 


60 


SIXTH  STUDY. 
Paul  Affirms. 

"It  is  a  small  part  of  the  evidence  of  the  divinity 
of  oiir  Lord  that  can  be  gathered  np  from  the 
general  teaching  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind  that  faith  in  this  doc- 
trine rests  not  on  this  or  that  passage,  or  on  this 
or  that  mode  of  representation,  but  upon  the  whole 
revelation  of  God  concerning  His  Son.  The  di- 
vinity of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  wrought  into 
the  texture  of  the  Scriptures,  and  is  everywhere  as- 
serted or  assumed." 

The  foregoing  is  especially  true  of  the  writings 
of  Saint  Paul.  From  the  hour  of  midday,  out  on 
the  hill  at  Damascus,  when  he  said,  "Who  art 
thou,  Lord?"  and  heard,  "I  am  Jesus,"  Paul  was 
always  and  increasingly  loyal  to  his  risen  Lord. 
He  knew  only  one  Lord — the  Lord  Jesus ;  only  one 
faith— faith  in  Him;  only  one  baptism — baptism 
into  union  with  Him  in  His  death,  burial,  resur- 

61 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

rection,  ascension,  and  session  at  the  right  hand 
of  God.  He  filled  the  whole  horizon  of  Paul's 
vision.  To  him  to  live  was  Christ;  to  die,  gain. 
All  things  were  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Him.  He  was  more  than  conqueror 
through  Him  from  whose  love  nothing  could  sep- 
arate him  for  a  moment,  and  he  died  with  clear 
vision  of  the  crown  ready  to  be  placed  on  his  head 
by  his  crucified  and  risen  Lord. 

He  was  anxious  that  all  whom  he  could  in  any 
way  influence  should  have  like  precious  faith  in 
his  divine  Lord.  Hence,  in  A.  D.  52,  he  wrote  his 
Thessalonian  converts,  just  out  of  heathenism, 
"to  wait  for  his  Son  from  heaven,  whom  he  raised 
from  the  dead,"  and  that  "the  Lord  himself  shall 
descend  from  heaven"  as  a  conqueror,  and  we 
shall  "be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the 
Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the 
Lord,"  and  afterward  he  corrected  their  mistaken 
ideas  of  the  time  and  manner  of  His  second  com- 
ing. 

Being  deeply  grieved  that  the  converts  in  Gala- 
tia  had  been  tempted  through  the  persuasion  of 
Judaizing  teachers  to  discount  the  work  of  Christ, 
in  A.  D.  54,  he  wrote  them  a  strong  letter  upon 

62 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

"The  Perfect  Work  of  Christ,"  declaring  himself 
one  sent  forth  through  Him  raised  from  the  dead, 
that  faith  in  Him  was  all-sufficient  without  ob- 
servances of  the  law,  that  Christ  is  Abraham's 
seed,  that  all  who  by  faith  belong  to  Him  are 
children  cf  Abraham,  and  they  only  are  free. 

In  A.  D.  57,  he  had  heard,  in  Ephesus,  by  those 
of  the  house  of  Chloe,  of  the  spirit  of  party  in 
the  Corinthian  church,  some  two  hundred  miles 
to  the  west,  and  wrote  at  once  to  get  their  eyes  and 
hearts  away  from  the  mere  human  agents — Paul, 
Cephas,  and  Apollos — back  upon  Christ  alone,  of 
whose  body  they  formed  a  part,  that  He  alone  was 
the2<$(^m,  the  true  system  of  philosophy,  and  the 
inherent  power  of  God,  that  in  Him  alone  was  lib- 
erty, that  He  was  the  spiritual  rock  who  sustained 
their  fathers  in  the  wilderness  (I.  Cor.  10:4), 
that  as  Head  of  the  church  His  authority  and 
Sacraments  are  to  be  observed  (ch.  11),  and  this 
can  be  done  only  by  the  Spirit  of  God  (12:3), 
through  whom  He  bestows  nine  spiritual  gifts, 
that  our  Lord's  resurrection  explains  and  makes 
certain  our  resurrection  (ch.  15),  and  every  one 
not  loving  such  a  Lord  brings  deserved  anathema 
upon  himself  (ch.  16),  but  the  looking  with  un- 

63 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

veiled  face  upon  His  glory  brings  metamorphosis 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory  (II.  Cor. 
3:18). 

In  A.  D.  58,  he  wrote  to  the  saints  in  Eome  of 
"A  Eighteousness  of  God  Revealed/'  inherent  in 
God,  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  faith  in 
every  believer,"  cogently  portraying  the  necessity, 
nature,  effects,  and  application  of  that  righteous- 
ness through  Christ  alone,  His  divinity  being  im- 
plied. He  gives,  also,  direct  testimony  in  Romans 
1:4:  "Who  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God 
with  power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness 
[subjective  spirit]  by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead ; 
even  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord" ;  and,  9 :  5,  "Who 
[Jesus]  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever.  Am^n" ; 
and  10 :  9,  "Because  if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy 
mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  an.d  shalt  believe  in  thy 
heart  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou 
shalt  be  saved." 

Next  we  know  him  as  the  prisoner,  not  of  the 
Roman  government  so  much,  or  because  even  of 
the  hostility  of  his  own  nation,  but  of  Jesus 
Christ;  he  belongs  to  Him,  and  so  he  writes  from 
prison,  in  Rome,  in  62,  four  letters  in  which  he 
exalts  his  Lord  as  divine. 

64 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

He  would  have  the  saints  in  Ephesus  (1:10) 
see  all  things  summed  up  in  Christ,  "the  things  in 
the  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the  earth/'  and 
to  recognize  Him  as  the  "head  over  all  things  to 
the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him 
that  filleth  all  in  all,"  that  they  are  alive  from 
the  death  of  sin  together  with  Him  (2:5),  that 
He  descended,  and  ascended,  and  that  the  church 
(4:16)  derives  all  its  life  and  sustenance  from 
Him. 

To  the  Philippian  saints,  loving  and  loved,  he 
tells  (2:6),  that  although  He  was  in  the  form 
of  God  once,  yet  did  not  count  it  a  prize  to  be 
seized  and  held,  but  became  less  in  order  that  oth- 
ers might  be  great,  and  because  of  this  every  knee 
shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  in  the  universe  shall 
confess  His  lordship,  and  (3 :  20)  He  shall  change 
the  body  of  our  humiliation  that  it  may  be  con- 
formed to  the  body  of  His  glory. 

He  wrote  to  the  Colossian  believers  that  his  and 
their  divine  Lord  was  more  than  the  agent  in  crea- 
tion, that '%  him"  as  the  sphere,  or  element,  were 
all  things  created,  inanimate  and  animate,  angelic 
and  human,  that  in  all  things  He  might  have  the 
preeminence,  that  in  Him  is  all  fullness  of  the 

5  65 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Godhead  bodily,  that  spiritual  reconciliation  of 
things  upon  the  earth  and  things  in  the  heavens 
is  due  to  Him. 

Assuming  Paul  wrote  to  the  Hebrew  Christians 
in  63,  after  a  wonderful  summary  in  the  first 
four  verses,  giving  nine  statements  of  His  per- 
son and  work,  he  places  Christ  far  above  angels 
in  name,  nature,  office  (ch.  1),  and  above  Moses,  as 
son  over  His  own  house  is  above  the  servant  in 
the  house  (3:1-6),  and  above  Aaron,  perfect,  un- 
dying, efficient,  unending.  Throughout  the  book 
He  is  the  effulgence  of  His  Father's  glory. 

Finally,  in  his  three  pastoral  letters,  he  often 
asserts  the  divinity  of  his  Lord.  Among  many, 
he  gives  this  summary  of  a  confession  current  in 
that  day,  "Without  controversy  great  is  the  mys- 
tery of  godliness;  he  was  manifested  in  the  flesh, 
justified  in  the  Spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached 
among  the  nations,  believed  on  in  the  world,  re- 
ceived up  in  glory." 

So  through  more  than  thirty  years  of  eminent 
service,  and  awful  trials,  from  his  conversion  in 
36  or  37,  to  his  crowning  in  67  or  68,  and  in  thir- 
teen or  fourteen  letters  written  in  different  places 
and   circumstances  to  very   different   people,   to 


The  Divinity  of  Ow  Lord 

saints,  to  churches,  to  public  servants,  and  to  pri- 
vate individuals,  Paul  bears  unmistakable  testi- 
mony that  Christ  was  what  He  professed  to  be  and 
the  Gospels  had  said  he  was,  the  theanthropos, 
very  God  of  very  God. 


67 


SEVENTH  STUDY. 
The  Prophets  Foretold. 


69 


//  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will 
they  be  persuaded,  if  one  rise  from  the  dead. 

— Jesus. 


70 


SEVENTH  STUDY. 
The  Prophets  Foretold. 

Dr.  Frank  Delitzsch,  an  eminent  Hebrew 
scholar,  said,  "There  are  three  hundred  and 
thirty-three  distinct  prophecies  of  Christ  in  the 
Old  Testament." 

The  close  reader  is  gratified  in  noticing  the  de- 
cided progress  in  clearness  of  statement,  in  vivid- 
ness of  portrayal  of  His  character  and  work,  from 
the  first.  Genesis  3 :  15,  to  the  last  one,  Malachi 
4:2. 

ISTo  wonder  devout  persons  like  Simeon,  Anna, 
Nathanael,  waited  and  longed  for  the  consolation 
of  Israel,  for  no  doubt  they,  in  some  form,  had 
studied  and  pondered  the  inspiring  vision  opening 
more  and  more  toward  reality  as  brought  out  in 
Genesis  3:15;  12:3;  49:10;  :N"umbers  24:17; 
Deuteronomy  18: 15  (1300  B.  C.)  ;  Psalms  2,  16, 
22,  40,  45,  72,  110  (1000  B.  C.)  ;  Isaiah  7: 14; 
9 :  6 ;  11 : 1,  53 ;  Micah  5 :  2  ( 750  B.  C.) ;  Jeremiah 

71 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

33:15;  23:5  (630  B.  C.)  Zechariah  3:8,  9;  6: 
13;  9:9;  11:12,  13;  12:10;  13:1  (520  B.  C.) ; 
and  Malachi  3: 1;  4:  2  (450  to  400  B.  C). 

Passing  over  the  historical  books,  in  which  is 
repeated  mention  of  the  Jehovah  angel  who  has 
generally  been  understood  to  be  the  Messiah,  the 
second  person  of  the  Trinity,  we  come  to  the 
acknowledged  Messianic  Psalms,  and  to  the  brief 
mention  of  the  plain  utterances  of  some  of  the 
prophets. 

In  the  second  Psalm  the  nations  are  depicted 
in  open  hostility  toward  their  rightful  sovereign 
(1-3) ;  the  Lord's  attitude  toward  them  of  de- 
rision and  of  determination  to  sustain  His  king 
upon  the  throne  (4-6) ;  the  record  of  the  covenant 
with  His  Son  that  His  reign  should  be  triumphant 
and  universal  (7-9) ;  and  His  loving  entreaty  with 
kings  and  judges  to  avoid  impending  doom,  with 
benediction  upon  all  who  thus  surrender  and  trust 
Him  (10-12). 

In  Psalm  16:8-10  we  have  language  applicable 
in  its  full  sense  only  to  Jesus  Chrst,  as  brought 
out  in  Acts  2 :  27,  31,  and  13 :  35. 

The  seventy-second  Psalm  Hengstenberg  calls 
the  program  of  the  crucifixion,  although  written 

72 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

one  thousand  years  before  our  Lord  appropriated 
the  words  to  Himself  on  Calvary. 

The  forty-fifth  Psalm  gives  a  description  of  a 
king  which  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  applies  (vs. 
6,  7)  directly  to  Christ  as  superior  to  angels,  being 
Himself  God  seated  upon  a  throne,  ruling  in  equity 
because  He  inherently  loved  righteousness,  hence 
He  had  been  anointed  by  God  above  all  those  ad- 
ministering the  affairs  of  His  kingdom. 

The  seventy-second  Psalm  speaks  both  of  the 
King  and  the  extent  of  His  kingdom,  all  nations 
bringing  their  glory  and  honor  into  it,  and  in 
every  way  contributing  to  its  magnificence  and 
perpetuity  until  the  whole  earth  shall  be  under 
His  rule.    Amen  and  amen. 

The  one  hundred  and  tenth  Psalm  describes  the 
kingly  Priest  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek, 
greater  than  Abraham  in  that  he  blessed  him,  and 
to  whom  Abraham,  in  recognition  of  his  superior- 
ity, paid  tithes  from  the  top  of  the  spoil  taken  in 
war.  This  is  repeatedly  applied  to  Christ  in  He- 
brews. 

Now  put  these  six  poetic  descriptions,  all  ac- 
knowledged to  be  Messianic,  together,  and  whose 
portrait  is  it  if  not  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus  as 

73 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

brought  out  in  New  Testament  applications  to 
Him?  Is  He  divine?  Is  tlie  Old  Covenant,  and 
the  New  as  well,  false,  and  are  both  failures  ? 

In  Isaiah  we  have  Him  (4:2),  as  "the  branch 
of  the  Lord"  beautiful  and  glorious;  in  chapter 
six,  as  upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up.  His  train 
filling  the  temple,  all  of  which  (John  12:4)  ap- 
plies to  Christ;  in  chapters  seven  and  nine,  as  a 
child  of  a  virgin;  a  son  given,  strong  to  rule, 
wise  in  counsel,  whose  name  is  Wonderful,  Coun- 
sellor, Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father  or  Father 
of  eternities,  Prince  of  Peace,  whose  kingdom  is 
everlasting ;  and  in  fifty-three  we  have  His  person 
and  sacrifice  and  its  effect  upon  Him  and  upon  the 
world. 

While  Isaiah  makes  us  acquainted  with  Him 
and  creates  longings  to  see  Him,  Micah  5 : 1-5 
gratifies  in  telling  where  He  is  to  be  born,  and 
Zechariah  9 :  9  gives  us  the  scene  of  His  riding 
into  Jerusalem  "upon  an  ass,  even  upon  a  colt 
the  foal  of  an  ass";  in  11:12,  13  we  see  "the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver"  for  which  Judas  sold  Him ; 
in  12 :  10,  the  mourning  and  bitterness  which  fol- 
lowed; and  in  13: 1,  the  opening  of  the  fountain 
to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of 

74 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Jerusalem  for  sin  and  uncleanness ;  that  is,  atone- 
ment perfect  and  universal. 

And  finally  Malachi  closes  the  attractive  per- 
spective of  the  Old  Covenant  with  a  few  touches 
of  warning  and  of  hope  and  gladness  (ch.  3:1), 
"And  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall  suddenly  come 
to  his  temple ;  and  the  messenger  of  the  covenant, 
whom  ye  delight  in,  behold,  he  cometh,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts";  and  (ch.  4 :  2),  "The  sun  of  right- 
eousness shall  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings; 
and  ye  shall  go  forth,  and  gambol  as  calves  of  the 
stall." 

What  more  need  be  said?  Time  would  fail  in 
telling  how  the  Scriptures  set  forth  the  excellency 
of  God,  as  one  with  the  Father,  as  the  first  begot- 
ten of  God,  as  Lord  of  lords,  as  the  image  of  God, 
as  Creator,  as  the  blessed  God,  as  Mediator,  as 
Prophet,  as  Priest,  as  King,  as  Judge,  as  Shep- 
herd, as  Head  of  the  church,  as  the  true  Light, 
as  the  Foundation  of  the  church,  as  the  Way,  as 
the  Truth,  as  the  Life,  as  incarnate,  as  divine  in 
His  works,  in  His  words,  in  His  sinless  perfection, 
in  the  fullness  of  His  grace  and  truth,  in  His 
transfiguring,  in  His  exaltation,  in  calling  the 
Gentiles,  in  the  restoration  of  the  Jews,  in  His 

75 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

triumphs,  in  His  sufferings,  in  His  resurrection, 
in  His  immutability,  in  His  incomparability,  in 
His  impartation  to  the  saints,  in  His  adoration  by 
the  redeemed  in  heaven  where  His  saints  behold 
His  face  evermore,  and  serve  Him  day  and  night. 


76 


EIGHTH   STUDY. 
The  Undivided  Testimony  of  Ages. 


77 


Christ  the  Power  of  God. — Paul. 

His  followers  are  nations  and  generations. 

— Fichte. 


78 


EIGHTH   STUDY. 

The  Undivided  Testimony  of  Ages. 

"With  the  goodly  company  of  the  prophets  and 
the  apostles;  with  the  martyrs  of  the  earliest 
Christian  ages ;  with  the  earlier  and  later  fathers ; 
with  the  strong  scholars  who,  differing  on  much 
else,  are  on  this  truth  essentially  and  persistently 
one;  with  the  continental  and  English  reformers, 
and  the  Anglican  and  Puritan  and  American  di- 
vines; with  Athanasius  and  Tholuck,  with  Fene- 
lon  and  Knox,  with  Augustine  and  Anselm,  with 
Calvin  and  Wesley,  with  Luther  and  Bossnet,  with 
Bull  and  Baxter,  Horsley  and  Howe,  Pearson, 
Newman,  Pascal,  Cudworth,  Wolf,  Butler,  Taul- 
erand,  Hopkins,  Edwards,  Sherlock,  and  D wight, 
Park  and  Neander,  with  Nice,  Trent,  Augsburg, 
Westminster,  Edinburgh,  Leipzig,  Berlin,  Prince- 
ton, New  Haven,  and  Andover,  shall  not  Boston 
say,  Let  the  anthem  roll  on  ?"^    With  such  a  eata- 

>  Joseph  Cook  on  "The  Trinity  a  Practical  Truth." 
79 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

logne  of  eminent  scholars  and  recognized  coun- 
cils who  held  Jesus  divine,  what  if  Locke,  New- 
ton, Franklin,  Channing,  and  Parke  did  not  re- 
ceive Him? 

How  does  it  come  that  Jesus  becomes  greater 
and  greater  as  men  study  Him  more  and  more 
through  the  ages?  that  nations  which  carry  out 
the  principles  taught  by  Him  become  great  and 
greater,  and  those  who  do  not  know,  or  knowing 
forsake  Him,  become  less  and  less  until  they  pass 
away? 

If  there  is  no  divinity  in  His  doctrine  of  sin, 
ato'nement,  regeneration,  sanctification,  resurrec- 
tion, immortality,  judgment,  how  account  for  the 
gracious  ■  results  which  in  all  ages  and  among  all 
classes  have  attended  the  faithful  preaching  and 
reception  of  them  ?  Why  do  we  find  from  one  hun- 
dred to  two  hundred  churches  flourishing,  based 
upon  His  divinity,  and  one  Unitarian — perhaps 
not  one?  Have  the  great  missionary  movements 
of  any  age  sprung  from  the  Trinitarians  or  from 
the  Unitarians? 

Whence  the  great  Eeformation?  If  He  is  not 
divine,  why  this  constantly  increasing  demand  for 
His  Word,  of  which  He  is  the  central  theme,  the 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Sun?  Translations  are  being  made  into  lan- 
guages and  dialects  with  increasing  rapidity  and 
accuracy,  so  that  it  is  said  to-day  that  twelve  hun- 
dred of  the  fifteen  hundred  millions  of  the  race 
could  have  the  Word  of  life  in  their  own  tongue. 

Have  the  world-wide  movements  now  blessing 
this  age  sprung  from  those  who  doubt  and  deny 
our  Lord's  divine  nature?  Are  Unitarians  dis- 
cussing whether  they  have  any  mission  ?  Is  Har- 
vard University  facing  toward  Christ  by  inviting 
into  its  theological  faculty  men  of  avowed  loyalty 
to  Christ  as  divine  ? 

What  changes  have  come  in  Germany  in  the 
past  thirty  years,  when  it  is  affirmed  that  "out  of 
the  thirty  universities  of  that  most  learned  land, 
only  one  can  be  called  rationalistic  to-day.  I  do 
not  know  of  a  single  infidel  book  over  a  hundred 
years  old  that  has  not  been  put  on  the  upper  neg- 
lected shelf  by  scholars."^ 

"The  most  remarkable  feature  of  religious 
scholarship  in  recent  times  is  the  study  of  the 
Jesus  of  nineteen  hundred  years  ago."^  We  con- 
clude, then,  that  the  undivided  testimony  of  the 
Christian  church  in  all  ages  has  been,  and  the 

*  Joseph  Cook.    •Simpson. 
6  81 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

trend  of  thought  now  is,  in  favor  of  our  Lord'v? 
divinity. 

There  has  been  much  of  imperfect  statement, 
of  cloudiness  of  belief,  of  indefinite  thinking  and 
realization,  of  denial  in  practice,  on  the  surface, 
but  the  under-currents  have  been  and  are  toward 
Him. 


NINTH  STUDY. 
The  Christ  Within^. 


83 


The  influences   of  the  Holy  Spirit   are   Chri^fs   con- 
tinued life.  — Joseph  Cook. 


84 


NINTH  STUDY. 

The  Christ  Within. 

Is  THERE  such  a  thing  as  the  Christian  or  Christ 
consciousness  by  which  we  know  God  directly? 
Is  there  a  sixth  sense  ?  Are  its  perceptions  as  def- 
inite as  any  of  the  five  physical  senses  ?  There  has 
been  but  one  opinion  among  believers  in  our 
Lord's  divinity  as  to  the  reality  and  reliability  of 
this  inner  spiritual  sense.  The  Word,  also,  .con- 
firms this  conviction.  In  the  first  Epistle  of  John, 
chapter  five,  four  witnesses  as  to  our  Lord's  di- 
vinity are  summoned:  "the  water,"  His  baptism 
in  the  beginning  of  His  ministry;  "the  blood," 
His  death  at  the  close  of  His  life  on  earth;  "the 
Spirit,"  given  as  the  result  and  a  continuance  of 
His  ministry  on  earth:  and  the  witness  within, 
for  "he  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the 
witness  in  him,"  and  "he  that  hath  the  Son  hath 
the  life :  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  the 
life."    In  his  Gospel,  14 :  22,  the  same  writer  says, 

85 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

"What  is  come  to  pass  that  thou  wilt  manifest  thy- 
self unto  us  and  not  unto  the  world  ?" 

Indeed,  in  the  whole  book  it  is  assumed  that, 
when  its  teachings  are  received,  important,  radical 
change  takes  place  in  man — the  eyes  of  the  under- 
standing are  opened,  the  heart  changed,  the  will 
renewed,  the  old  put  off,  the  new  put  on.  "It  is 
the  heart  that  makes  the  theologian."^  This 
change  is  the  result  of  belief  in  a  divine  philos- 
ophy which  can  only  be  understood  by  the  human 
spirit  enlightened  and  energized  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  but  then  it  can  discern  "even  the  deep  tilings 
of  God,'^  "for  we  have  the  mind  of  Christ." 

In  such  persons  not  only  is  the  deity  of  Christ 
accepted,  but  also  all  the  doctrines  growing  out 
of  that  central  fact,  such  as  the  divinity  in  the 
word  itself,  the  fallen  state  of  man,  his  restora- 
tion through  Christ  by  a  power  other  than  his 
own,  growth  into  His  image,  longing  to  be  like 
Him  until  the  vision  opens  only  to  things  above 
where  Christ  is  seated,  for  He  is  the  life,  and 
thus  all  such  come  into  the  truest  socialism  with 
patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs — all  who 
have  served  Him  in  all  ages  (Heb.  12:22-24) 
» Neander. 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

and  feel  themselves  by  virtue  of  life  with,  their 
risen  Lord  thrust  out  into  service  as  He  Himself 
came  out  to  minister  and  to  give  His  life  a  ran- 
som. Thus  the  Christ-life  is  lived  by  those  who 
are  Christ's. 

Martyrs  prayed  to  Him  as  divine.^  The  hymns 
of  the  ages  have  been  of  Him  as  divine.  Toplady, 
the  Calvinist,  wrote  "Eock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me." 
Wesley,  the  Arminian,  "Jesus,  Lover  of  my  soul."" 
The  practical  value  of  hymns  as  teaching  the  deity 
of  Christ  cannot  be  overstated,  for  they  are  the 
expression  of  the  deepest  and  highest  religious 
emotions.  The  Gloria  in  Excelsis  belongs  to  the 
second  century,  and  the  Te  Deum  has  been  traced 
to  an  early  date.  Prayers  to  Him  as  divine  have 
come  down  to  us  from  the  days  of  His  ministry 
on  earth. 

If  He  is  not  divine,  how  account  for  these  vast 
changes  in  individual  lives  and  the  beneficial  re- 
sults to  societies  and  nations  when  controlled  by 
men  who  believe  Him  divine?  Why  are  men  of 
extraordinary  power  for  good  while  loyal  to  Him, 
shorn  of  that  power  when  they  have  wilfully 
turned  their  backs  upon  him  ? 

« Vide,  Liddon,  p.  390. 

87 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Another  takes  us  to  the  same  conclusion,  the  di- 
vinity of  Jesus,  by  emphasizing  that  the  great 
data  for  Christianity  are  to  be  found  in  Christ 
Himself,  that  the  historic  Christ  implies  the 
Christ  of  experience,  also,  for  as  we  think  to  ex- 
amine Him  intellectually  we  find  Him  examining 
us  spiritually,  and  that  means  the  fact  of  sin,  sin 
needs  forgiveness,  forgiveness  implies  a  forgiver, 
pure,  loving,  tender,  humble,  which  implies  in- 
carnation, and  incarnation  atonement,  and  atone- 
ment divinity,  so  that  He  comes  into  our  place, 
and  we  by  union  with  Him  stand  in  His  place, 
so  that  it  is  no  longer  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me, 
for  he  that  believeth  is  not  condemned,  and  he 
that  willeth  to  do  His  will  shall  know  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divinity  of  his  Lord,  for  "he  that  he- 
lieveth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  witness  in  him: 
he  that  believeth  not  God  hath  made  him  a  liar; 
because  he  hath  not  believed  in  the  ivitness  that 
God  hath  borne  concerning  his  Son/' 


TENTH  STUDY. 
The  Witness  of  Unbelievers. 


0  Galilean,  TJiou  hast  conquered! 

— Julian  the  Apostate. 


90 


TENTH  STUDY. 

The  Witness  of  Unbelievers.* 

Pontius  Pilate  and  his  wife.  Seven  or  eight 
times  on  that  fatal  Friday  morning  when  Pilate 
rather  than  Jesus  was  on  trial  did  Pilate  declare 
Jesus  innocent.  "While  he  [Pilate]  was  sitting 
on  the  judgement-seat,  his  wife  sent  unto  him, 
saying,  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  right- 
eous man :  for  I  have  suffered  many  thing  this  day 
in  a  dream  because  of  him."  "When  Pilate  saw 
that  he  prevailed  nothing,  but  rather  that  a  tu- 
mult was  arising,  he  took  water,  and  washed  his 
hands  before  the  multitude,  saying,  I  am  inno- 
cent of  the  blood  of  this  righteous  man :  see  ye  to 
it"  rMatt.  27:19.  24). 

The  Centurion  at  the  cross.  '^Now  the  cen- 
turion, and  they  that  were  with  him  watching 
Jesus,   when  they   saw  the  earthquake  and  the 

*The  author  acknowledges  his  debt  to  others,  chiefly  to 
Schafl'and  Townsend. 

91 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

things  that  were  done,  feared  exceedingly,  saying. 
Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God''  (Matt.  27:  54).' 

Judas.  "Then  Judas,  which  had  betrayed  him, 
when  he  saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented 
himself,  and  brought  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to 
the  chief  priests  and  elders,  saying,  I  have  sinned 
in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood"  (Matt. 
27:3,  4). 

Flavins  Josephus,  A.  D.  93.  "About  this  time 
lived  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  proper  to  call  Him 
a  man,  for  He  was  the  doer  of  wonderful  works, 
a  teacher  of  such  men  as  receive  the  truth  with 
pleasure.  He  drew  over  to  Him  both  many  of 
the  Jews  and  many  of  the  Greeks.  He  was  the 
Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  investigation  of 
the  principal  men  among  us,  had  condemned  Him 
to  the  cross,  those  who  had  loved  Him  at  the  first 
did  not  forsake  Him.  For  He  appeared  to  them 
alive  again  on  the  third  day,  the  divine  prophets 
having  foretold  these  and  many  other  wonderful 
things  concerning  Him.  And  the  sect  of  Chris- 
tians, so  named  after  Him,  are  not  extinct  to  this 
day." 

The  Talmud  bears  indirect  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  and  hence  to  the  divinity 

92 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

of  its  founder,  Jesus  Christ,  as  do  also  the 
heathen,  Greek,  and  Koman  writers  of  the  first 
five  centuries,  both  by  their  incidental  allusions 
and  their  direct  attacks.  Among  the  latter  was 
Julian  the  Apostate,  Eoman  emperor,  361-363, 
who  did  all  in  his  power  by  personal  example  and 
by  the  exercise  of  his  absolute  authority  as  em- 
peror to  arrest  the  progress  of  Christianity  and  to 
restore  paganism  throughout  the  empire.  In  his 
final  and  disastrous  Persian  campaign  he  took 
care  to  restore  the  heathen  gods.  He  died  of  a 
wound  in  battle,  and,  possibly,  his  dying  words 
were,  "0  Galilean,  thou  hast  conquered." 

Passing  to  modern  witnesses,  we  have  among 
Germans : 

Lessing,  born  1729,  one  of  the  greatest  names 
in  German  literature,  opposed  to  evangelical 
Christianity:  "Christ  came,  and  Christ  became 
the  first  reliable,  practical  teacher  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  The  first  reliable  teacher.  Re- 
liable because  of  the  prophecies  which  seemed  ful- 
filled in  Him;  reliable  because  of  the  miracles 
which  He  wrought;  reliable  because  of  His  own 
reviving  after  a  death  by  which  He  sealed  His 
doctrine." 

93 


The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

Immanuel  Kant,  born  1724,  the  noted  G^man 
philosopher,  expressing  religious  horror  on  hear- 
ing a  comparison  between  his  morals  and  those  of 
Jesus,  said,  "One  of  those  names,  before  which  the 
heavens  bow,  is  sacred,  while  the  other  is  only 
that  of  a  poor  scholar  endeavoring  to  explain, 
to  the  best  of  his  ability,  the  teachings  of  his 
Master." 

Schelling,  born  1798,  the  illustrious  German 
philosopher,  a  pantheist  and  unbeliever:  '"The 
advent  of  Jesus  Christ  was  the  turning-point  of 
the  world's  history."  "Jesus  Christ  was  a  living 
word,  an  eternal  discourse." 

Fich.tc,  born  1797,  the  skeptic  and  atheist: 
"Till  the  end  of  time,  all  the  sensible  will  bow 
before  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  all  will  humbly 
acknowledge  the  exceeding  glory  of  this  great 
phenomenon.  His  followers  are  nations  and  gen- 
erations." 

BicMer,  born  1763,  a  German  humorist  and 
sentimentalist  of  the  greatest  singularity,  "a  satir- 
ist of  orthodox  Christianity,"  calls  Jesus  "the  pur- 
est of  the  mighty  and  the  mightiest  of  the  pure, 
who  with  pierced  hands  raised  empires  from  their 
foundations,  turned  the  stream  of  history  from  its 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

old  channels,  and  still  continues  to  rule  and  guide 
the  ages." 

In  infidel  France  we  have : 

Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  born  1712,  of  whom 
Doctor  Schaff  says:  "This  famous  French  phi- 
losopher and  rhetorician  did  as  much  as  any 
writer,  Voltaire  not  excepted,  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  French  Revolution  and  the  consequent 
overthrow  of  the  whole  social  order  in  France. 
When  Plato  describes  his  imaginary  righteous 
man,  loaded  with  all  the  punishments  of  guilt, 
yet  meriting  the  highest  rewards  of  virtue,  he  ex- 
actly describes  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
death  of  Socrates,  peacefully  philosophizing 
among  his  friends,  appears  the  most  agreeable  that 
one  could  wish ;  that  of  Jesus,  expiring  in  agonies, 
abused,  insulted,  and  accused  by  a  whole  nation, 
is  the  most  horrible  that  one  could  fear.  Socrates, 
indeed,  receiving  the  cup  of  poison,  blessed  the 
weeping  executioner,  but  Jesus,  amidst  excruciat- 
ing tortures,  prayed  for  His  merciless  tormentors. 
Yes,  if  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were  those 
of  a  sage,  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  are  those  of 
t^  god." 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  born  1769  :    "I  know  men, 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

and  I  tell  you  that  Jesus  Clirist  is  not  a  man. 
I  see  in  Lycurgus,  Numa,  and  Mohammed,  only 
legislators,  who  have  the  first  rank  in  the  state; 
have  sought  the  best  solution  of  the  social  prob- 
lem; but  I  see  nothing  there  which  reveals  di- 
vinity. It  is  not  so  with  Christ.  Everything  in 
Him  astonishes  me,  and  His  will  confounds  me. 
Between  Him  and  whomever  else  in  the  world 
there  is  no  possible  comparison.  He  is  truly  a  be- 
ing by  Himself.  I  search  in  vain  in  history  to 
find  the  similar  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  anything 
which  can  approach  the  gospel.  Alexander,  Caesar^ 
Charlemagne,  and  myself  founded  empires.  But 
on  what  did  we  rest  the  creations  of  our  genius? 
Upon  force.  Jesus  Christ  alone  founded  His  em- 
pire upon  love;  and,  at  this  hour  millions  of  men 
would  die  for  Him.  What  a  proof  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ!  What  an  abyss  between  my  deep  misery 
and  the  eternal  reign  of  Christ,  which  is  pro- 
claimed, loved,  adored,  and  which  is  extending 
over  all  the  earth  !'^ 

F.  Pecant.  "To  what  height  does  the  character 
of  Jesus  Christ  rise  above  the  most  sublime  and 
yet  ever  imperfect  types  of  antiquity!  Jesus 
Christ  has  ever  been  humble  and  patient,  holy, 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

holy,  holy  before  God;  terrible  to  devils;  without 
any  sin.  His  moral  life  is  wholly  penetrated  by 
God." 

Ernest  Benan,  who  in  his  life  of  Jesus  treats 
the  whole  story  as  legendary,  confesses  that  "all 
history  is  incomprehensible  without  Him."  "The 
highest  consciousness  of  God  which  ever  existed 
in  the  breast  of  humanity  was  that  of  Jesus. 
Jesus  had  no  visions.  God  does  not  speak  to  Him 
from  without.  God  is  in  Him;  He  feels  that  He 
is  with  God,  and  draws  from  His  heart  what  He 
says  of  His  Father.  He  lives  in  the  bosom  of 
God  by  uninterrupted  communication.  He  is  the 
God  of  humanity." 

From  France  we  turn  to  England : 

James  Martineau,  born  1805,  an  English  Uni- 
tarian who  uttered  many  hard  things  against  evan- 
gelical beliefs,  "Christ  is  the  commissioned 
Prophet,  the  merciful  Eedeemer,  the  inspired 
Teacher,  the  perfect  Model,  the  heavenly  Guide." 

Thomas  Carlyle,  born  1795,  not  positively  com- 
mitted to  Christianity  in  his  personal  belief: 
"The  tidings  of  the  most  important  event  ever 
transacted  in  this  world  is  the  life  and  death  of 
the  divine  Man  in  Judaea,  at  once  the  symptom 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

and  the  cause  of  immeasurable  changes  to  all  peo- 
ple in  the  world.  Our  divinest  symbol.  Higher 
has  the  human  thought  not  yet  reached." 

Lord  Byron,  born  1788,  "If  ever  man  was  God, 
or  God  was  man,  Jesus  Christ  was  both." 

James  Antho7iy  Froude,  born  1818,  "The  most 
perfect  being  who  ever  trod  the  soil  of  this  planet 
was  called  the  Man  of  sorrows." 

Charles  Dickens,  born  1812,  "I  commit  my  soul 
to  the  mercy  of  God  through  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  and  I  exhort  my  dear  children  to 
guide  themselves  by  the  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament." 

Mrs.  Humphry  Ward,  authoress  of  "Robert 
Elsmere,"  wrote,  in  1899,  to  the  London  Times 
that  "the  school  I  represent  still  says  as  Peter  said 
of  old,  ^Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,'  not, 
indeed,  from  Peter's  standpoint,  but  with  Peter's 
persuasion  that  there  is  the  light  to  be  sought." 

From  England  we  turn  to  America  for  a  few 
testimonials  from  persons  not  classed  among  or- 
thodox believers.  Deists  like  Thomas  Paine,  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  Thomas  Jefferson,  did  not  stop 
short  of  acknowledging  the  exalted  character  of 
the  life  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ. 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

It  is  difficult  to  classify  American  Unitarians. 
Doctor  Channing  represents  the  right  wing,  and 
Doctor  Parker  the  left  wing. 

Doctor  Channing,  born  1780,  the  father  of 
American  Unitarianism :  "I  maintain  that  this 
is  a  character  wholly  remote  from  human  concep- 
tion. I  contemplate  it  with  a  veneration  second 
only  to  the  profound  awe  with  which  I  look  upon 
God.  It  was  a  real  character.  It  belongs  to 
and  manifests  the  beloved  Son  of  God  and  the 
Saviour  of  the  world. 

Dr.  Theodore  ParTcer,  born  1810:  "That 
mightiest  heart  that  ever  beat,  stirred  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  how  it  wrought  in  His  bosom !  Measure 
Jesus  Christ  by  the  shadow  He  has  cast  into  the 
world?    N'o,  by  the  light  He  has  shed  upon  it." 

James  Freeman  Clarice,  born  1810,  a  noted  Uni- 
tarian: "Christ  was  something  more  thali  mere 
man.  The  Word  of  God  dwelt  in  Him,  and  did 
not  merely  come  to  Him  as  a  transient  influence. 
The  Spirit  in  Christ  was  one  with  God." 

These  witnesses  have  been  brought  from  differ- 
ent lands.  They  represent  different  schools  of 
thought,  different  professions  as  philosophers,  his- 
torians, theologians,  preachers,  men  of  letters,  rep- 

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The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord 

resenting,  also,  various  phases  of  unbelief.  What 
impression  do  their  testimonies  make  ?  Is  it  easier 
to  accept  Jesus  as  He  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Saviour  of  men,  two  natures  in  one  Per- 
son, than  to  account  for  Him  in  any  other  vray? 
"What  think  ye  of  the  Christ  T  "Who  say  ye  that 
lam?" 


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